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Hydro Thunder
Hydro Thunder is a speedboat racing sub-series video game. It was originally an arcade game on the Quantum3D Quicksilver II hardware platform, released in March 1999. It was later ported to the Sega Dreamcast console as a launch title on September 9th, 1999. It was also released for PlayStation and Nintendo 64 systems on February 29th, 2000. A "Special Edition" version featuring Castle Von Dandy track from the home version was also in the arcades but it was rare and they can find one on Ebay. This game is part of Midway's "Thunder" series of racing games, which include Offroad Thunder, 4 Wheel Thunder, and Arctic Thunder. H2Overdrive, a spiritual successor to Hydro Thunder, was released by Raw Thrills for Arcades in 2009, created by the same team as the original arcade version of Hydro Thunder and was not be confused with the cancelled PlayStation 2 game of the same name by Crave Entertainment in 2003. Hydro Thunder Hurricane, a sequel to Hydro Thunder, was later released for the Microsoft Xbox 360 on July 27th, 2010 on Xbox Live Arcade. The gameplay of Hydro Thunder consists of racing high-tech speedboats through treacherous environments, from the cold seas of the Arctic Circle, to a post-apocalyptic, flooded version of New York City (New York Disaster). Overview The arcade version of Hydro Thunder utilizes the same basic cabinet as Hyperdrive and also has the same cabinet seat as San Fransisco Rush and the later Offroad Thunder, and has the same steering wheel on the control panel as Cruis'n USA minus the standard foot pedals and adding a variable position throttle with forward, neutral and reverse directions. The game also has an unusual volume adjustment, where the regular play volume is usually set lower than the feedback volume for the subwoofer in the seat. This places the player "in the game" and makes the person feel like he or she is actually piloting a powerful, high-tech speedboat. Besides the arcade, Hydro Thunder has been ported over to the Sony PlayStation, Sega Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64. The Dreamcast version of the game was also included in Midway Arcade Treasures 3, a compilation of Midway's many arcade racing games. A PC version was also released in Europe. The Dreamcast port became one of the few Sega All Stars titles. Midway Games had plans to create a double pack for Hydro Thunder and San Fransisco Rush 2049 under the title Hydro Rush for the PlayStation 2. But the game was canceled, and the project moved to Midway Arcade Treasures 3 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and was also included in the later Midway Arcade Treasures Deluxe Edition for Windows - however neither of these versions were based on the arcade original, but rather the Dreamcast port. Version Differences The original arcade game featured Greek Isles as an Easy track, rather than Medium in the home versions, in addition to New York Disaster and Nile Adventure being the unlockable Bonus tracks, with Hydro Speedway only accessible via a cheat code using the pilot view button. Castle Von Dandy and Catacomb only appeared in the console ports. Not only that, but the method for unlocking tracks and boats in the arcade game is unique; after finishing a track, you earn a key out of a predetermined number needed to unlock the track and boat. If you did not earn a free game after finishing a race, you would need to insert more coins in order to continue, or else after the Continue countdown runs out, the key(s) earned would become invalidated, requiring you to start over again. Also, cheat codes on the arcade game to play as the Bonus boats involved highlighting certain boats and pressing the pilot view button three times. The PlayStation port of the game included a Career Mode not found in the other versions. The Dreamcast version of the game had graphics that were more detailed and closer to the arcade version than the other home console ports. The Nintendo 64 version allowed up to 4-player local multiplayer (instead of just 2-player) when the N64 Expansion Pak is equipped to the console. Also, only the home ports featured the Catacomb and Castle Von Dandy tracks, along with New York Disaster and Greek Isles being reclassified as Hard and Medium tracks respectively. The console ports did not feature the keys from the arcade version. Storyline The game does not offer very much of a storyline, but according to the manual of the Dreamcast, PS1, and N64 ports of the game, the player is a world champion powerboat racer longing for a challenge, until he recieves a letter stating that he is now recruited into the underground boat racing syndicate known as the Hydro Thunder Racing Association. Boats There are a total of nine boats in the game, three in each difficulty level, along with four additional bonus boats. Easy *Midway *Miss Behave *Damn the Torpedoes Medium *Tidal Blade *Banshee *Thresher Hard *Razorback (Ultra Hard in the arcade version) *Cutthroat *Rad Hazard Bonus *Blowfish (Hard in the arcade version) *Armed Response (Medium in the arcade version) *Chumdinger (Hard in the arcade version) *Tinytanic (Medium in the arcade version) Tracks There are a total of 13 tracks in the game Easy *Thunder Park *Lost Island *Arctic Circle Medium *Greek Isles (Easy in the arcade version) *Lake Powell *The Far East Hard *Ship Graveyard *Venice Canals *New York Disaster (Bonus in the arcade version) Bonus *Hydro Speedway (Medium in the arcade version) *Castle Von Dandy *Catacomb *Nile Adventure Gallery Ht 290 variant v2.jpg|North American PlayStation cover Hydro Thunder Cover.jpg|European PlayStation cover n64_hydrothunder.jpg|North American Nintendo 64 cover n64_hydrothunderpal_eu.jpg|European Nintendo 64 cover References *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydro_Thunder Wikipedia article Category:Games